Victorian writers dominate Indie Book Awards shortlists

Victorian-based writers have made a clean sweep of spots in the two adult-fiction shortlists for Indie Book Awards, which were announced on Monday.

The awards, which are presented by Australia's independent booksellers to the best books published last year, come in six categories: fiction; non-fiction; debut fiction; illustrated non-fiction; children's, and young-adult. Victorian writers occupied the four spots both in fiction and debut fiction.

The full shortlists are as follows.

Fiction: Force of Nature, Jane Harper; The Choke, Sofie Laguna; On the Java Ridge, Jock Serong, and City of Crows, Chris Womersley???.

Debut fiction: Wimmera, Mark Brandi; Australia Day, Melanie Cheng; The Last Man in Europe, Dennis Glover, and See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt.